The Poisoning of Flint, Michigan

Protesters in Flint, Michigan

The authorities in Flint and the state of Michigan deliberately and consciously poisoned people with lead and other chemicals in the city water supply. Revolution reporter Alan Goodman went to Flint, and spoke to people from all walks of life about the situation that has upended their lives, and the genocidal system behind it. As a woman whose husband had worked decades at GM told him, "Black people put this country on wheels and now that they sucked the life out of us, they don't care about us." While people in Flint were being poisoned with toxic drinking water, government officials denied the danger, and ridiculed and marginalized those who were exposing what was going on until it was no longer possible to sweep the crisis under the rug.

Alan Goodman joins Michael to talk about the impact on the lives of people in Flint, the political economy behind it, and how a different kind of society would solve such problems.

Read Alan Goodman on, "How the North Side Ghetto Became Ground Zero for Lead Poisoning," at revcom.us.

Tempest Redux

"Tempest Redux," a play in Los Angeles, at the Odyssey Theatre, is a creative re-imagining of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," using dance, music and athletic performances to put the entire play in a powerful new perspective.

One example: Ariel is recast as three women who speak together, lip-syncing their lines from a pre-recorded sound track.